Don't Waist Your Clothes

Sometimes clothes make me claustrophobic. I think it has to do with years of buying clothes from thrift stores and TJ Maxx and places that don't have something in every size, so when you find something you really like, you compromise the fact that it may not fit you perfectly and you just deal with it. But over the years the combination of my growing neurosis and my ever-growing body it has made it hard to not feel anxious if clothes are too tight on me. I don't like when I can't move freely or if something is too tight around my waist. I also hate constantly adjusting things, pulling down a shirt, pulling up a pair of jeans.

Actually, for the longest time I thought jeans were the most uncomfortable article of clothing to wear. That is because, like Blanche so eloquently  put it on an episode of The Golden Girls: "I can go out to dinner, and in the middle of the meal my pants are cutting off my circulation so bad my feet are turning blue." Jeans are only good for a certain amount of hours until the urge to unbutton them is too strong to resist. But I must admit that with a good-fitting pair of jeans, they can be comfortable all day. I realized this after donating all my old pairs of jeans I didn't fit into anymore I finally finding some that actually fit.

With that being said, it has been my mission lately to find clothing that are not only cute but actually comfortable. Clothes that are loose-fitting without looking sloppy. I just want to look like those Parisian woman that look like they just threw on whatever they could find and still look amazingly stylish (and comfortable!) I think my whole goal in life is to look that effortless (and to not feel like I'm constantly in a sausage casing). Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:

Here are a few things my waist is swooning over:

images via All for Fashion Design, Agorique, Styletracker, Victoria Day Today, Vanessa Jackman

All my current style inspirations are under 4 feet.

Inspiration for your 3-day weekend

                                                           

It's so fitting that it's overcast today. Doesn't Labor Day mark the "unofficial" end of summer? I love summer, but you were just too damn hot this year. Fall, I'm ready to be all up in your business.

fallspiration

I'm getting so excited for fall I can hardly contain, well, my excitement. If I may quote the Pointer Sisters, "I'm so excited, I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control, and I think I like it." It's like they're speaking right to me.

I'm ready to not have my makeup melt off my face the second I leave my house, or having anything more than a dress resembling a slip make me disgustingly uncomfortable. This summer I was really into the bohemian, free-spirit vibe as far as clothing style went. I wanted to land somewhere in between Janis Joplin and Bridgette Bardot with my outfits. Of course every outfit ended up being about 3 pieces shy of resembling either one of them, but I still looked towards them for what I felt inspired by. But now I can see fall so shyly approaching in the distance, and I can't wait.

All of the sudden I just knew exactly what I wanted to wear all of fall and winter, and it made me even more eager for the colder weather to get here. I guess I would describe my fall inspiration as Parisian Tomboy? Does that make sense? Let me explain. I just purchased two pairs of shoes recently. Two completely, polar opposite pairs of shoes. One, pink Jeffrey Campbell open-toed lace-up wedges and the other, white hightop Converse. They arrived the same day, and I immediately tried both of them on. Love at first fitting. Then out of nowhere I had this thought in my head that went something like, "I want to wear these hightops every day." Then I started thinking of how wonderful it would be to dress like a guy, in a way where you just wear comfy casual clothes but still be stylish and not like you just threw on whatever was clean.

So I started thinking of all the women who have effortlessly chic, yet casual style. And the first thing I thought of was Paris. The city where stylish women flock to like the salmon of Capistrano. And I'm pretty sure the very city where the word "chic" came from. And if you put all that together, that's how I got Parisian Tomboy as an acceptable style in my head. This includes, but is not limited to: soft loose tees, dark skinny jeans, high tops, boots, loafers, blazers, leather jackets, vests, grandpa cardigans, pullover sweaters, and button-up shirts. In dark and neutral colors, with the occasional bright color (I mean, I'm not totally heartless.)

So those are my clothing plans for fall, which is actually better planned out than my school schedule, let me tell you! Shows you where my priorities lay.


source: Elle UK, Accidental Chic, Lady Centre, a Stylized Hysteria, StyleCaster

Vintage Beauty

That nail polish is almost exactly like the "minted" one I've been obsessing over.


Runway Magazine via

Images of the Day

via Jalouse, Teen Vogue, Genlux

Obsessed: Crochet

 

 

Film Styles: Almost Famous

Movie: Almost Famous (2000)

Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann (Pulp Fiction, Vanilla Sky, The Ugly Truth)


For all of us who did not experience hanging out with rock stars during the 60's and 70's, we are forced to live vicariously through Almost Famous. Not that it's a terrible thing to live through. Penny Lane (Emily Rugburn, Lady Goodman... whatever you want to call her) is a most excellent tour guide to our hippie band-aid fantasies. Not only does Kate Hudson already possess a free-spirit vibe, but Betsy Heimann creates signature looks like crop tops and the shearling coat that just scream "I'm with the band." With summer creeping up and music festivals, beach trips, picnics in the parks, pool parties and everything else that summer entails, it's the perfect time to have your own Penny Lane boho band-aid moment, sans singing "Tiny Dancer" on a tour bus full of men in the middle of nowhere (unless you're planning on doing just that, and in that case, party on, Garth). So pull out your lacy crop tops, cut off Levi's, crochet vest and fringe messenger bag and give me a call. Because it ain't California without you. I'm under the name "Harry Houdini."

TopShop crochet top, $55
A line leather skirt, $110
Abercrombie Fitch denim short, $50
Versace cross body bag, $895
Wide brim hat, $32
Cutler Gross black round sunglass, 304 GBP
Odd Molly Odd Molly 355 Almost Black Coat, 775 GBP
Square-Neck Cropped Lace Top, $17
Peace Ditsy On Chain, $12

Best of Coachella

Via Mr. Newton, Refinery 29, Harper's Bazaar, Elle